(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for driving a display device, a display device including the same, and a method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for driving a display device that experiences reduced deterioration during a low temperature test, a display device including the same, and a method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, flat panel display devices such as organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display devices, plasma display panel (“PDP”) devices, and liquid crystal display (“LCD”) devices have been actively developed as substitutes for heavy and large cathode ray tubes (“CRTs”).
The PDP device is a device for displaying characters or images by using plasma generated from gas discharge, and the OLED device is a device for displaying characters or images by using electroluminescence of specific organic materials or specific polymers. The LCD device is a device for displaying characters or images by applying an electric field to a liquid crystal layer disposed between two panels and controlling strength of the electric field to adjust the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer.
Among the display devices outlined above, the LCD device includes a pixel including a switching device, a display panel including a display signal line, a gate driver for turning on/off the switching device of the pixel by sending out a gate on/off voltage to gate lines among the display signal lines, and a data driver for sending out a data voltage to data lines among the display signal lines to apply the data voltage to the pixel through the turned-on switching device.
In a large display device, along with a middle or small sized display device, the gate driver, which may be formed by a same process for forming the switching device of the pixel, may be integrated with the display panel.
The gate driver, substantially a shift register, includes a plurality of stages that are connected to each other and aligned in a line. A first stage receives a scan start signal and outputs a gate output, while simultaneously sending out a carry output to the next stage to sequentially generate a gate output. The gate output may be used as the carry output.
Here, the stages include a plurality of transistors, but the driving current of the transistors may be changed according to temperature, and output deterioration of the shift register may be generated due to various reasons.
Accordingly, in consideration of these points, the deterioration of the stages has previously been detected via a low temperature test in the manufacturing process.